{"id":81305,"date":"2025-05-21T03:39:05","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T11:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2025\/05\/21\/nebraska-senators-reject-bill-to-implement-voter-approved-medical-marijuana-program\/"},"modified":"2025-05-21T19:47:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T03:47:12","slug":"nebraska-senators-reject-bill-to-implement-voter-approved-medical-marijuana-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2025\/05\/21\/nebraska-senators-reject-bill-to-implement-voter-approved-medical-marijuana-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Nebraska Senators Reject Bill To Implement Voter-Approved Medical Marijuana Program"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cI would expect intelligent people with good hearts, which I believe this body is, can find a way to provide relief with some medical marijuana.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Zach Wendling, Nebraska Examiner<\/strong><\/p>\n

A legislative proposal seeking to help implement Nebraska\u2019s voter-approved medical cannabis laws failed Tuesday, facing a tougher floor fight than four years ago despite widespread support in November.<\/p>\n

The latest measure,\u00a0Legislative Bill 677, failed to garner the 33 votes needed to shut off a filibuster, with the bipartisan effort to stop debate\u00a0falling 23-22. The regulatory push secured the support of eight Republicans, 14 Democrats and one nonpartisan progressive in the officially nonpartisan 49-member body (State Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha, the only other Democrat, was absent from the final vote but had supported the bill).<\/p>\n

Republican State Sens. John Arch of La Vista, Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln and Merv Riepe of Ralston declined to take a position and were \u201cpresent, not voting.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair, a Republican with a Libertarian bent who sponsored LB 677, sought to appeal to his conservative colleagues that \u201con a limb,\u201d everyone could agree that medical cannabis could at least help someone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that\u2019s the case, you believe in medical cannabis, and that\u2019s OK,\u201d Hansen said. \u201cI know sometimes that scares some of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freshman State Sen. Glen Meyer of Pender was one Republican who heeded Hansen\u2019s call.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would hope, and hope\u2019s not a plan, but I do have faith in this body, I would expect intelligent people with good hearts, which I believe this body is, can find a way to provide relief with some medical marijuana,\u201d Meyer said.<\/p>\n

The other six Republicans joining Hansen and Meyer were State Sens. Tom Brandt of Plymouth, Stan Clouse of Kearney, Myron Dorn of Adams, Rick Holdcroft of Bellevue, Jana Hughes of Seward and Dave Wordekemper of Fremont.<\/p>\n

But at the end of the day, Gov. Jim Pillen (R), Attorney General Mike Hilgers (R) and Nebraska\u2019s junior U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., Pillen\u2019s predecessor, prevailed in their public calls against passing LB 677<\/a>, peeling off enough Republican senators to stop the bill.<\/p>\n

Voters legalized medical cannabis with\u00a071 percent approval in November, for up to 5 ounces of cannabis with a physician\u2019s recommendation. A separate regulatory law\u00a0secured 67 percent approval.<\/p>\n

\u2018We can always come back\u2019<\/h4>\n

Leading the charge against LB 677<\/a> was freshman State Sen. Jared Storm of David City, who echoed the calls of Hilgers and Ricketts that\u00a0legislation wasn\u2019t needed\u00a0to help implement the state\u2019s new medical cannabis laws.<\/p>\n

Storm and multiple Republicans said the\u00a0new Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission<\/a>, which voters created and charged with \u201cexclusive\u201d regulatory authority, should be left to act on its own first, without legislative changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we have any issues, we can always come back as a body and tweak those issues, not jump off the cliff,\u201d Storm said of Hansen\u2019s LB 677 and an accompanying amendment.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI don\u2019t want anybody to think that I\u2019m some cold-hearted monster here that does not have sympathy for children and adults that are suffering through pain<\/a>. But we have to get this right.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hesitation also came as Hilgers\u2019 office continues challenging whether the ballot measures were properly placed on the 2024 ballot and an expected future state-led challenge arguing the voter-approved laws violate federal law. The AG\u2019s Office was\u00a0in court earlier Tuesday\u00a0asking for a citizen-led lawsuit alleging the same legal challenge to be tossed so Hilgers\u2019 staff can sue.<\/p>\n

Hilgers also\u00a0organized opposition to LB 677 from 53 sheriffs, including the Nebraska Sheriffs Association, and the Police Chiefs Association of Nebraska.<\/p>\n

\u2018Let\u2019s help shape it\u2019<\/h4>\n

State Sen. John Fredrickson of Omaha, a mental health practitioner, said cannabis would not \u201cleap off the shelves\u201d and corrupt Nebraska youth, as some opponents contended. He said senators sometimes needed to go outside and \u201ctouch some grass and just think about what the world is like outside of this room.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s not get too concerned about \u2018fighting against the will of the people,\u2019\u201d Fredrickson said. \u201cLet\u2019s help shape it. Let\u2019s help put in the right guardrails in place, and let\u2019s help build a system that we can be proud of and puts our patients first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hansen said a strong regulatory system could also save lives from over-reliance on opioids, which State Sen. Dan Quick of Grand Island echoed.<\/p>\n

Quick said he thought medical cannabis might one day be able to help his son who has struggled with opioid, drug and alcohol addiction for about 25 years. In that time, Quick said he and his wife have administered life-saving meds to reverse overdoses.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is an important bill that could help a lot of people, and we need to take that into consideration in what we\u2019re doing,\u201d Quick said.<\/p>\n

State Sens. Megan Hunt and Dunixi Guereca, both of Omaha, said opponents also needed to grow up and embrace the modern acceptance of medical cannabis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 1990s have called, and they want their \u2018Reefer Madness\u2019 back,\u201d Guereca said. \u201cIt is the year of our Lord 2025. Medical marijuana is not controversial.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018The will of the people\u2019<\/h4>\n

Multiple opponents targeted Democrats for their support of LB 677 but opposition to other measures this year to water down voter-approved laws related to paid sick leave and minimum wage. In those cases, 32 of 33 Republicans support changing what voters approved, including Hansen. State Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln is the lone Democrat in favor of the sick leave and minimum wage changes, and she proposed the minimum wage tweaks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis bill\u2019s unnecessary, inappropriate, undermines the will of the people and implements recreational marijuana,\u201d State Sen. Bob Andersen of north-central Sarpy County said.<\/p>\n

Hansen and State Sens. John Cavanaugh of Omaha, Danielle Conrad of Lincoln and George Dungan of Lincoln repeatedly pushed back and noted that backers of the medical cannabis ballot measure asked for LB 677, unlike supporters of the sick leave and minimum wage changes.<\/p>\n

Public support for medical cannabis was widespread in November, with majority approval in all 49 legislative districts for legalization and 46 of 49 districts favoring a regulatory system.<\/p>\n

Cavanaugh and Dungan said LB 677 was stricter than they would have liked but helped voters whose will Dungan said would \u201conce again be stifled\u201d if LB 677 failed.<\/p>\n

Cavanaugh, who offered amendments to make the bill less restrictive, said its negotiated constraints were \u201cin the interest of accessibility, safety, reliability.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Let\u2019s cool our jets\u2019<\/h4>\n

State Sen. Tanya Storer of Whitman called out \u201cpolitical theater\u201d and said part of the urgency for passing LB 677 was an effort by supporters of medical cannabis to get around legal challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be fooled about the why, about the panic, about why the marijuana proponents are playing on your fear and emotion that we\u2019re going to have mayhem and chaos if we don\u2019t pass 677. If we pass it, we put it in state statute,\u201d Storer said.<\/p>\n

Some senators, as well as Hilgers, have said LB 677 could weaken his office\u2019s pending appeal before the Nebraska Supreme Court alleging improper notarizations during the ballot measure process, which a Lancaster County District Court judge widely rejected in November, after the election. Ballot sponsors have also consistently denied wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

Some opponents flaunted that decision and said they hope the Nebraska Supreme Court \u201cgets it right,\u201d including State Sen. Mike Jacobson of North Platte, who asked whether LB 677 would incentivize people to \u201cdummy up a bunch of signatures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jacobson and State Sen. Bob Hallstrom of Syracuse, a lawyer, repeatedly pointed to the fraud-focused case and said Hilgers was protecting the ballot measure process.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s cool our jets. Let\u2019s slow down the pace,\u201d Jacobson said.<\/p>\n

\u2018This issue isn\u2019t going away\u2019<\/h4>\n

Conrad and the ballot sponsors have said it is Hilgers and Secretary of State Bob Evnen\u2019s alleged fraud case who are threatening the petition process and seek to \u201cruin the lives of grassroots activists who peacefully petitioned their government for change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite opponents\u2019 best efforts, Conrad said, the Legislature had already affirmed the ballot measures with an earlier cleanup bill passed February 21 in a 48-0 vote:\u00a0LB 1.<\/p>\n

Conrad also blasted some opponents for drumming up the very evidence that Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong, a Ricketts appointee, had rejected, including texts among campaign volunteers. Conrad, citing Strong, said she found them \u201ccompletely out of context, legally irrelevant and cherry-picked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo regurgitate them here on the floor of the Legislature, again, out of context, again, to sling mud, again, to drag moms of sick kids who are petitioning their government to try and find a cure, that says a lot about you,\u201d Conrad said.<\/p>\n

Meyer said that even if signatures are ultimately tossed, and the state Supreme Court sides with Hilgers\u2019s appeal, voters\u2019 strong approval would still carry weight.<\/p>\n

Many of the same campaign volunteers, including all but one of the main notaries being targeted by the AG\u2019s Office, showed up for the debate. In the early hours of debate, one of the long-time advocates had seven seizures. Her mom helped start the legislative push more than a decade ago.<\/p>\n

Some volunteers said that while the defeat of LB 677 was a loss, they wouldn\u2019t stop fighting and would keep showing up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis issue isn\u2019t going away. I don\u2019t believe the people will let it go away,\u201d said Crista Eggers, executive director of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, who described the defeat as an \u201cabsolute failure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hansen predicted that LB 677\u2019s defeat could accelerate the push for recreational marijuana, as early as the 2026 election. That would come at the same time Pillen, Hilgers, Evnen, Ricketts and half of the seats in the Legislature are up for reelection.<\/p>\n

\u2018Choke it to death\u2019<\/h4>\n

Another major theme of the debate was whether the Legislature should step in before the Medical Cannabis Commission<\/a> has a chance to, as the Legislature has not yet considered or confirmed two final gubernatorial appointees.<\/p>\n

Both of those Pillen picks\u2014Dr. Monica Oldenburg of Lincoln and Lorelle Mueting of Gretna<\/a>\u2014have a confirmation hearing Thursday. Each has consistently opposed the same measures that Eggers and other long-time supporters have fought for. Mueting opposed LB 677 but was \u201cneutral\u201d on a much stricter bill from Storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would we as a Legislature start messing with the commission that hasn\u2019t even started doing its work yet?\u201d State Sen. Rob Dover of Norfolk asked during debate.<\/p>\n

But Hansen said the\u00a0commission\u2019s broad authority and the apparent lean of the appointees\u00a0could signal where the regulations ultimately end up, which he said does nothing but hurt patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they take the reins, they can choke it to death,\u201d Hansen said of the commission.<\/p>\n

Four years ago, an earlier medical marijuana bill\u00a0failed 31-18\u00a0in face of Republican opposition. Hilgers, a former state senator, opposed the 2021 bill, too.<\/p>\n

But unlike that narrow defeat, LB 677 faced\u00a0one of the toughest fights for advocates in a decade, even as the 2025 debate came at a different political moment than in 2021. That includes Ricketts no longer being governor.\u00a0He had said legalized marijuana would \u201ckill your kids.\u201d It also includes overwhelming approval of the ballot measures.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you know in your hearts that people deserve this, and you know in your hearts what\u2019s going to happen if we don\u2019t,\u201d Hansen told his colleagues. \u201cThe people voted for you to make a decision, not to push it off to somebody else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

This story was first published by Nebraska Examiner.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

GOP Congressman Details \u2018Life-Saving\u2019 Psychedelic Therapy Experience Where He Saw Cosmic Colors And Time Travel<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

The post Nebraska Senators Reject Bill To Implement Voter-Approved Medical Marijuana Program<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\u201cI would expect intelligent people with good hearts, which I believe this body is, can find a way to provide relief with some medical marijuana.\u201d By Zach Wendling, Nebraska Examiner A legislative proposal seeking to help implement Nebraska\u2019s voter-approved medical cannabis laws failed Tuesday, facing a tougher floor fight thanContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81305"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81305"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81306,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81305\/revisions\/81306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}